Mama's Family may not be "Masterpiece Theatre" but hey- its not supposed to be!Its just great Southern fried comedy. As Carol Burnette once remarked about the original sketches: Tennessee Williams on acid! Being from The South (Virginia), I can sure relate to the family dynamic. There are lots of Harpers in my neck of the woods. The cast did change from a more serious flavored dysfunctional family- to the more typical joke line/punch line and almost cartooned flavor (when they added Bubba and Iola in the Syndicated version). Both the NBC episodes and the Syndicated shows work well for me. I love them all. Mama's Family went through changes- including an whole new cast. The core has always been lovable "Thelma Harper" - a widow head of the Harper clan, her nit wit son "Vinton" and he sleazy daughter-in-law "Naomi" who works as a checker at "Food Circus". The original series was a bit more campy and theatrical, and toned down and more subdued during the "Syndicated Version" which dropped Aunt Fran, Ellen, and guest appearances by Eunice, and added Bubba- Mama's reform school dropout grandson, and Iola- Mama's quirky neighbor.Mama is really clever and I love it when she says "Well, Good Lord!" or "Horsefreathers!" and other country expressions, all the while pursing her lips in dismay. Some of my favorite episodes include "Mama Gets A Job", "The Love Letter", Roshamama", and "Supermarket"- but all of the episodes (with the possible exception of the "Hawaii" ones), are hi-larious to me. I love the fact that Mama's Family plays up the provincial of the characters and location and isn't afraid of this. They live in "Raytown"- so every landmark and business has the name "Ray " in it. Such as "Ray-Mart" or "McRay's" Its all so funny to me. I don't see how people can bemoan and belittle this classic gem of a TV Show. People have gone as far to say its one of the worst shows. They must not have a sense of humor in their entire being. Its a very funny and under-rated TV shows. The actors are superb. No other TV show can lift me out of a slump or depression like Mama's Family can.

Mama's Family is most certainly a brilliant overlooked sitcom of yesteryear. I cannot fathom how it has gone unnoticed in current day. It has a huge cult-following, mainly due to it being cleverly re-aired as an after-school show in the mid and late 90's. It gained a new and very valued fan-base. If it were put on a stable network again (lets say Lifetime) it would gain the attention it deserves and possibly even establish a re-union show that its current fans are dying for. Add-in all the old veterans of the beginning series- Carol Burnett, Betty White, and Rue McClanahan and you've got a smash hit! What is great about Mama's Family is its satirical nature. It was way way way ahead of its time. And is most certainly a live action comedy in the vein of cartoons that get away with beautiful murder such as The Simpsons and The Family Guy (no I didn't mention King of the Hill, as it is a horrid and crude example of a rip-off to say the least). The low-budget feel of the sitcom is part of its charm. The costumes are tacky and brilliant (way better executed than The Nanny, who no doubt got its idea from Mama's Family and The Carol Burnett Show), the location and actual stills of the house are grand, the pink flamingo yard sale grandmother look of the decor is right on target, and the writing is simple and effective. Change it and you've got an over-glossed bomb. This is why shows that strive to hush-hush duplicate Mama's Family's success (and you hear nothing about it) fail miserably. It pains me to see no one critically accepting its very old school John Waters feel. Except one critic in EW that apparently has to battle to get even the smallest article of praise into the magazine. The show has been blocked from its release of the full DVD set for reasons that big high-brow executives don't look further into the profit they would be making in the long run in they socked the advertising into this show. THIS IS WHY when the first season didn't go over as planned (go sigh the online petition even if you are unfamiliar with this series in order to get it released on DVD). First of all it was in syndication. That can even be over-looked except- The first season wasn't even why the show is a classic anyway.. nor the 2nd. It only hit its stride GRANDLY when the cast was reworked with the likes of Dorthy Lyman and Beverly Archer (however sad not forcing Carol Burnett back onto the show is but oh well). These "big high-brow" (dumb as a bunch of lack of common sense rocks) executives didn't do their homework on the series... pawning it off as just a lackluster TV show to be under rug swept. Fortunately its fan-base is most certainly still breathing. AND if you look hard enough you can find this series (the whole series) on the internet... lets say per Japan or China (gotta love em- they are even smart enough to catch the U.S. flaws of the economy). Back to the rating.... this show gets an excellent rating of "10". Because it hung in there and found its niche and boy does it ever have one. If I were Vicki Lawrence I would be fighting for a reunion show as fast as I could. She was absolutely brilliant as Mama and has showed up on TV land and other networks dressed as Mama in hopes to kick a reunion show into gear! IT WILL WORK! Do it! High-market the DVD's and get the damn revamped thing on wheels! Much like 1980/70's horror films- there is a reason why these low-budget masterpieces are better than million dollar Nanny's and a pack of Friends- its because raw-talent is something hard to come by. And Mama's Family is a beautiful patchwork quilt of it!

Very simply, they are all the syndicated episodes and NOT the original uncut/unedited NBC episodes. It is NOT the complete first season, all eps are edited to conform to 21:00 for syndication meaning jokes are cut, an extra commercial fade is included, all of the Harvey Korman intros are not here...very poorly done! Shame on a series I've been waiting for....booooooooooooooooo! If you're a true die hard Mama fan, don't buy this and go to http://www2.warnerbros.com/web/main/help/whv/customer_service.jsp and send them comments on why we're unhappy on this butcher job to a classic sitcom!

I used to watch this show when I was a little girl. Although I don't remember much about it, I must say that it was a pretty good show. Also, I don't think I've seen every episode. However, if you ask me, it was still a good show. I remember the opening sequence and theme song vaguely, too. In addition to that, everyone was ideally cast, the costume design was great. The performances were top-grade, too. If you ask me, all of Thelma's (Vicki Lawrence) lines were funny. Before I wrap this up, I'd like to say that I'll always remember this show in my memory forever, even though I don't think I've seen every episode. Now, in conclusion, I hope that you catch it one day before it goes off the air for good.